2009 Jinggu Cloud Mountain sheng compared to Mansa huang pian

2009 Jinggu left, 2017 Mansa huang pian right

On the face of it this comparison tasting makes no sense.  One tea is much older, 10 years aged versus 2, one is huang pian (yellow leaf, made from older leaves that have lost their green color, as one sees on other trees and plant types), and both are from different areas.  Maybe it actually doesn't work. 

Part of the idea is trying as similar teas as I have in sample sets (with these from Tea Mania, contributed by Peter Pocjit to experience and review).  It's not as much a stretch as it might seem.  Both should be on the mellow side, soft and approachable as younger sheng range usually goes, with earthy, complex, but perhaps somewhat subtle flavors.  Both should have a relatively rich feel.  They both just get there in completely different ways, assuming that all that is correct.

I like huang pian; the experiences I've had with it are positive (there are reviews of different versions in this blog).  Now that I think of it I have a nice version from Laos that I could taste this one alongside, that Anna of Kinnari Tea passed on awhile back (a fall 2017 version).  If I like a tea enough I feel bad about drinking the last of it, thinking that sharing it later could involve getting more out of the experience, so that someone else could try it too.  Huang pian are softer, not bitter, trading out intensity of young sheng to gain sweetness and approachable character, with flavor range varying a little.

I've reviewed a Jinggu Cloud Mountain version not so long ago (a 2011 version from Tea Mania here, and a Jinggu from a Liquid Proust sample set here).  It could be interesting to go back and check this result against that but direct comparison of different versions of different ages wouldn't mean much.  I could only guess how similar both were initially, so the aging factor would never really be clear either.

Even if both are quite different I've done so many comparisons that it's normal enough to relate how two very different teas are at the same time.  It involves using more mental and experiential space, to take it all in and relate it, and range of aspects covered tends to narrow a bit in such cases.  I often focus more on flavor, and let description of other range like aftertaste, mouthfeel, or balance of varied aspects drop out to some extent.  If two teas are very similar it's easy to relate what the shared range is and move onto much finer levels of details.

It goes without saying but the degree of aging in a 2009 version of sheng varies a lot, related to where the tea has been and what the storage conditions were.  Something about that will probably come up in the vendor description but I tend to not check those before tasting, and won't in this case.  To fill in expectation teas from this vendor are usually quite solid, relatively high up the quality level, typically with very positive character, also sold to emphasize value, based in part on a relatively more direct sourcing approach. 

Vendors can visit China, or elsewhere, and establish ties with local producers and still sell teas for the high end of retail market value, just increasing their own profit margin, or they can choose to make higher than average value part of the offering.  Sometimes vendors will sell teas for less initially, build up a brand and customer base, then increase pricing points to standard market levels.  I'm not sure if that approach makes any sense or not, but I have seen it repeat in a number of cases.

Vendor descriptions, what the teas are:

Jinggu Cloud Mountain 2009

For this Pu-Erh, tea leaves from the remote and lonely  Jinggu Mountains were used and processed into a blend with cultured tea. By using Gushu and Taidi (cultured tea) this Pu-Erh can be drunk young as well as stored.

The Gushu tea leaves come from a special mountain which is called Cloud Mountain and is located in the west of the district Jinggu. The tea gardens on this mountain were created and cultivated over 400 years ago by the Wai Minority. However, this area was abandoned over 100 years ago because of the adverse living conditions and the tea gardens were forgotten. Only a few years ago, the wild tea gardens were rediscovered.  

Every spring, the descendants of the Wai visit Cloud Mountain each spring to harvest tea and make Maocha. The harvest workers cover themselves with provisions and stay for about two months on Cloud Mountain to harvest and process the tea leaves. Because only once a year is harvested, the tea trees can recover well and do not need to be fertilized. This leads to a natural and mineral flavor which is further expanded by storage. 


This tea is sold out, but it had sold for $39 per 357 gram cake.  Blending inputs is one way to achieve more overall character balance and also drop the cost of the tea, versus using only the more expensive type version.  Kind of a shame this isn't available; that was a really novel tea (described following), and an incredible value for that pricing level.  This doesn't mention storage location but it seems to have aged well for wherever it was, transitioning quite a bit without picking up any sort of damp-storage flavor.  That doesn't necessarily have to be mustiness, or that touch of basement smell I've ran across in Malaysian tea versions; teas from here (Bangkok) often seem much more pleasant after airing out for a few months.


Mansa Gushu Spring 2017 Huang Pian

For this Zhuancha we used Huang Pian from the popular Mansa Gushu 2017. The tea trees in Mansa are partly shaded and partly at the blazing sun. This special condition results in a particularly balanced aroma. The shaded tea leaves are particularly flowery in the aroma, while the sun-kissed tea leaves provide a strong Cha Qi.

This tea was stored in Xishuangbanna for two years and is therefore quiet ripe for its age.


The sample label didn't mention gushu; it's harder to pin down the overlap in range from old-plant sources for yellow leaves anyway.  This tea is selling for $30 per 250 gram brick, about the same as the other version had.  This is still a great value tea, based on having just tried and reviewed both, but that other version was on another level, kind of just priced wrong, seen one way, way too good to be selling for that.  Huang pian tends to sell for less, and younger tea versions do, and for what this is moderate pricing is more than fair.

Review:

Jinggu left, Mansa right.  Normal that the older tea is darker.

2009 Jinggu Cloud Mountain:  I don't usually but I tasted the rinse to see where this is going to be.  It's quite warm, rich, and sweet.  This couldn't have been dry stored; no matter where it started out it seems too far along in aging level, only from tasting the rinse.

In trying the first actual rinse there's a really catchy flavor aspect to this, towards sweet and mild bark or root spice.  Or maybe spanning some range; it's complex.  The root spice stands out most, close to root beer / sassafrass, sweet and "round," not the dryer and more mineral range ginseng, or warm and earthier turmeric, which is almost a little towards ginger.  There's no astringency or bitterness, although early on (before it's the right time to tell, really) feel seems reasonably thick.  For being a 2009 version this is relatively fermented, but then I've been drinking some more compressed tuochas or dry stored teas that haven't changed quickly, and less of conventional (not dry) stored sheng from a decade or more back, so maybe I'm biased. 

It's nice how complex that flavor is, how a warm mineral base supports it, and how pleasant the complex spice range is.  It overlaps a little with warmer wood tones, damp summer forest floor, but not in the same way woodier versions of sheng come across.  The spice stands out most, which is a totally different effect than when cedar, cured hardwood, or greener wood tones are primary.


2017 Mansa Huang Pian:  this is in a similar general range for overall character but completely different at the same time; that makes for an interesting effect in direct comparison.  It is also soft, on the rich side, with a good bit of sweetness (not quite as sweet as the other, in this infusion at least), but with a lighter flavor range.  That other tea didn't age to become subtle, which can happen when a tea wasn't suitable for aging initially or when it's in an awkward in-between phase of switching over from a slightly aged tea to a truly aged version (or younger into teen years; it just depends on the version starting point and storage conditions).

Unpacking flavor range isn't as easy.  It's a bit more towards cured hay, with a very mild and subtle floral range aspect, in between chyrsanthemum and chamomile (which are sweeter and even more subtle, respectively).  Feel isn't thin but not as rich as in the other tea's case.  This might just be developing slower due to being compressed differently, pressed more into sheets, as occurs with shou mei white tea cake versions.  The other tea opened right up, not overly compressed as sheng goes, which probably supports aging faster, and definitely makes it easier to prepare the tea for brewing.

Second infusion

I'll give these both around 15 seconds to infuse, a good bit longer than I usually infuse younger sheng, related to using a moderate proportion, both being on the subtle side, and getting the huang pian to open up more.

2009 Jinggu Cloud Mountain:  earthiness picks up; the wood-tone overlap increases related to brewing this a bit stronger (and natural development across rounds, but I bet it would stand out much less brewed half as long).  It doesn't throw off the effect but this is brewed longer than optimum.  Root spice flavor is still a main component but earthiness ramped up, warm mineral is heavier (pushing a little towards rusted metal), and the forest-floor effect deepened.  Feel picks up trace of roughness; I think it would feel smoother at a slightly lighter infusion level too. 

This is definitely different as sheng goes, unique in character.  Sweetness level helps all that work. It seems less fully-aged in this form, showing this set of aspects, with a bit more of a younger vegetal edge, just nothing like the sheng I've been reviewing.  It comes across as more aged than the 2006 Fengqing tuocha I just reviewed, although there are parallels in character, and I like both.  It's odd saying that it's vegetal when I've only described forest floor as remotely in that range, which one would naturally see as "earthy" instead, so in that I'm talking about a trace of younger wood flavor and feel that is ramping up.  For as much as this transitioned I'd expect it will be different again in the next round, that it's "going somewhere" for evolving character.

2017 Mansa Huang Pian:  this has evolved too; a trace of a catchy spice aspect picks up, more towards a floral tone.  It reminds me of pandan leaf, one of my favorite Thai (tropical) tisanes, how that's a leaf that also tastes a good bit like Froot Loops.  This is still quite soft and subtle in comparison with the other tea version; it covers a good bit less range.  It's nice that the flavor gained complexity and became more positive but there's less going on.  The feel isn't thin, not exactly thick or structured per normal sheng range, but the thickness it has is positive. 

Part of that character reminds me of how white teas can come across, not the bright, more intense young white range, which can be quite floral or even fruity, but more related to aged whites.  It's not quite onto the war dried fruit range a more fully aged shou mei might exhibit, more like a 4 or 5 year old version, transitioned but not to that stage.  It would work much better for people who can appreciate a subtle tea version; it's definitely not intense.  Pushing it, using a higher proportion or brewing longer, would only go so far in drawing that out.

Third infusion

2009 Jinggu Cloud Mountain:  this balance is much better for using a more standard infusion time, around 10 seconds.  That spice range balances nicely with the sweetness, mineral range, and complex wood range, a touch of forest floor along with some hardwood, now more towards cherry.  Cherry wood, and other hardwoods, can and do smell quite aromatic and sweet; this matches that.  The effect varies a lot between fresh cut wood and that aged for a year or so and this actually seems to span that range.  It's a lot going on, root spice, underlying mineral, wood tone, a touch of fruit, with a very complex feel, and nicely extended aftertaste.  It's nice not saying "this will be really nice in a few years;" it's nice now.  I think it will keep transitioning and picking up depth, converting that younger wood tone to deeper and warmer flavors, and structured feel to a richer, smoother, but still complex feel.  But this balance works as it is, just in a different way.


2017 Mansa huang pian:  this is even fruitier.  There's an aspect I had trouble connecting at first, one that reminds me of a very pleasant experience from my past.  Outside the Sinclair library in the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus there's a type of fig tree that produces very sweet, rich, complex flavored fruit (not easy to sort out but one can explore plants on that campus more here).  It's not something you can actually eat, I don't think, but is very pleasant to smell when it's at the right stage.  That's it!  The overall range isn't as complex as the other tea, and the feel isn't as thick, but it helps that this taste is so pleasant.

I don't make much of it here but I attended UH Manao last, Colorado State University just before then, and Penn State awhile back, to study philosophy and industrial engineering.  No point related to tea, of course.

that library balcony; a favorite studying spot

maybe one of those two, or maybe I'm remembering wrong; you can "walk" around the area here

The next infusion wasn't so different.  These teas are going to keep evolving some, and minor variations in brewing approach will shift the balance of experienced aspects, feel, aftertaste, etc., especially related to the Jinggu version being so complex.  I got a little sidetracked looking around at maps and photos of UH and now I don't feel like grinding out another few infusions worth of notes that sound similar but not exactly the same. 

I'll strike a balance by describing the infusion after that one, up to round 5 now, and let it go after that.  It is interesting how late round transitions go in experiencing a tea, how different or positive, and brewing a lot of pleasant infusions is a good sign for quality.  But I can't relate to reviewers that describe 10 rounds of the same tea as all somewhat different; it just doesn't work out that way for me.  Each round connects to the last, and can transition some, but not so much that a brand new description ever applies for each.

Jinggu:  that spice range is different, it has transitioned, but again complex enough that a normal description of it would involve picking two or three related flavors that stand out.  To me it's closest to root spice, the main aspect range, still towards sassafrass, with a sweet and complex bark spice next as part of that range (not cinnamon; not a familiar spice taste).  It's all a little towards star anise but not nearly as sweet, and a little warmer, spanning more range.  It's cool the way the thick feel transitions to a pronounced aftertaste, the way that draws out.  The feel has a good weight and structure, rich with a hint of dryness, but not really dry.  Intensity is good, not a strong-flavored tea in the way some versions become overly earthy, or have rough edges that could smooth, but not subtle, it's flavorful.  It's quite pleasant. 


Mansa huang pian:  a different catchy flavor set, still towards a fruity version of an herb tisane.  It's not exactly pandan, as expressed in this round, but as close to that as anything else.  It's still a good bit like that aromatic aspect that fruit producing trees put out in Hawaii.  For a lot of tropical plant and tree range I've ran across the same examples of things here, but not that exact same thing.  This tea being more subtle with a little lighter feel wouldn't work as well for everyone, but then it's easier to notice that drinking these side by side, it stands out more.  It's pronounced enough that for drinking one a month later the other the difference would probably still stand out, just the degree of it wouldn't be as clear.

Jinggu left; not that much darker for having that character

Conclusions:

Two really nice teas.  The comparison did make sense, although I could've lived with it working out the other way, if it hadn't.  The Jinggu version is at a great place for aging effect, seemingly quite far along that process, and should only improve from there.  The Mansa was quite pleasant too, also covering interesting flavor range, with positive but less intense feel as well.

I haven't mentioned a single negative aspect in either, at least as I interpreted the teas and the concepts, except for subtlety (a limit to aspects present) in the case of the huang pian version.  Two years of aging is a good level for rounding off astringency and bitterness, which that tea probably had relatively little of to begin with. 

Of course if the teas were the same cost I'd definitely buy the Jinggu instead (odd it worked out that way, before that version sold out).  Huang pian is nice for being a completely different kind of thing, than both young sheng or mostly aged sheng, for being mild, pleasant, and interesting, just more subtle.  10 years old isn't enough time for most people to consider any sheng "fully aged" but this Jinggu is in a pleasant place now, regardless of where it started out.  It's not fully aged; within a few more years in an environment that's not dry, well-suited for preserving sheng character as it is, it will be different.  It's just fine as it is now.